RAILTAPE No. 7 - March 1995

Description

CONTENTS:

BLYTHE & TYNE STEAM SPECIALS: Steam returned to the Blythe & Tyne line for the first time in thirty years, when 44767 ‘George Stephenson’ hauled a series of specials from Newcastle, working the freight only line to Blythe and returning via Morpeth and the ECML.

GCR CHRISTMAS GALA: Freshly liveried ‘King Arthur’ 4-6-0 No. 30777 ‘Sir Lamiel’ made its first ever visit to the GCR for the post Christmas activities. Also in traffic 5552 ‘Silver Jubilee’ and 60007 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’, bowing out of service for a move to the East Lancs.

46441 ON THE WEARDALE LINE: The campaign to revive passenger trains on the disused Weardale branch line from Bishop Auckland, saw BR red Ivatt No. 46441 on a series of excursions between Darlington Bank Top and Stanhope. These were the first steam workings on the Weardale line since the K1 No. 2005 in March 1993.

60009 CREWE DEPARTURES: After escaping from Bounds Green, ‘Union of South Africa’ added a new page to the preservation story with the first northbound steam special out of Crewe under the WCML wires. This S&C run saw ‘Duchess of Hamilton’ joining No.9 on the long drag, working a Carlisle to Bradford special. Also 60009 and the subsequent departure from Crewe, this time on a Welsh Marches tour.

FLYING SCOTSMAN ON THE LLANGOLLEN RAILWAY: Another famous product of the Gresley drawing board, ‘Flying Scotsman’ returned to Llangollen for an intensive 16 week programme. The A3 is scheduled to run more than 6500 miles during this visit, billed as the last chance to drive the world world-famous engine this century.

SWANAGE PROGRESS: At the Swanage Railway, we report on the acquisition of a first class workshop area at the Purbeck Business Centre and witness the work in progress for the final push to Corfe and Norden.

LOCOMOTIVE PROFILE ‘BAHAMAS’: Now retired from main line running, this profile dips into our archives and charts some of the engine's main line workings from 1989.

‘BLUE PETER’ UPDATE: We visit NELPG at Thornaby depot to report on and look at in depth the progress of work so far on the stricken mainline favourite ‘Blue Peter’. If you would care to help in any way we have included details of their appeal in this section.

CLASS 33s AT EASTLEIGH: With the withdrawal of Class 33s imminent, Eastleigh depot still caters for the few survivors of the class. We interview past and present members of the workforce and listen to some fascinating anecdotes about their years at the depot.

Available on DVD for the first time - exclusive from Videoscene!

What is Railtape?Railtape was launched in 1994 as the successor to the popular and best-selling Railscene series. Released either monthly or bi-monthly, it was a video magazine featuring all aspects of railway news. From steam and diesel footage, galas, preservation, railtours, to new locos, new liveries and much more, this series provided an in-depth look at the railway scene at that time. Many of the tapes also featured a short cab ride!

VHS tapes: The original series was professionally filmed and released on cassette with running times between 60 and 120 minutes, depending on how much news there was to cover in that specific month. A total of 72 issues were produced, right up to 2004. With the demise of VHS the series was deleted over a decade ago.

Now on DVD: Videoscene has recently acquired the master tapes for the entire series and will be releasing them in batches.

BLYTHE & TYNE STEAM SPECIALS: Steam returned to the Blythe & Tyne line for the first time in thirty years, when 44767 ‘George Stephenson’ hauled a series of specials from Newcastle, working the freight only line to Blythe and returning via Morpeth and the ECML.

GCR CHRISTMAS GALA: Freshly liveried ‘King Arthur’ 4-6-0 No. 30777 ‘Sir Lamiel’ made its first ever visit to the GCR for the post Christmas activities. Also in traffic 5552 ‘Silver Jubilee’ and 60007 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’, bowing out of service for a move to the East Lancs.

46441 ON THE WEARDALE LINE: The campaign to revive passenger trains on the disused Weardale branch line from Bishop Auckland, saw BR red Ivatt No. 46441 on a series of excursions between Darlington Bank Top and Stanhope. These were the first steam workings on the Weardale line since the K1 No. 2005 in March 1993.

60009 CREWE DEPARTURES: After escaping from Bounds Green, ‘Union of South Africa’ added a new page to the preservation story with the first northbound steam special out of Crewe under the WCML wires. This S&C run saw ‘Duchess of Hamilton’ joining No.9 on the long drag, working a Carlisle to Bradford special. Also 60009 and the subsequent departure from Crewe, this time on a Welsh Marches tour.

FLYING SCOTSMAN ON THE LLANGOLLEN RAILWAY: Another famous product of the Gresley drawing board, ‘Flying Scotsman’ returned to Llangollen for an intensive 16 week programme. The A3 is scheduled to run more than 6500 miles during this visit, billed as the last chance to drive the world world-famous engine this century.

SWANAGE PROGRESS: At the Swanage Railway, we report on the acquisition of a first class workshop area at the Purbeck Business Centre and witness the work in progress for the final push to Corfe and Norden.

LOCOMOTIVE PROFILE ‘BAHAMAS’: Now retired from main line running, this profile dips into our archives and charts some of the engine's main line workings from 1989.

‘BLUE PETER’ UPDATE: We visit NELPG at Thornaby depot to report on and look at in depth the progress of work so far on the stricken mainline favourite ‘Blue Peter’. If you would care to help in any way we have included details of their appeal in this section.

CLASS 33s AT EASTLEIGH: With the withdrawal of Class 33s imminent, Eastleigh depot still caters for the few survivors of the class. We interview past and present members of the workforce and listen to some fascinating anecdotes about their years at the depot.